Canada introduces regulation to freeze handgun gross sales, ban look-alike toys

OTTAWA, May 30 (Reuters) - Canada's authorities launched laws Monday to implement a "national freeze" on the sale and buy of handguns as a part of a gun management bundle that would also restrict journal capacities and ban some toys that look like weapons.

The new legislation, which resurrects some measures that have been shelved final year amid a national election, comes just a week after a gunman killed 19 youngsters and two teachers of their classroom in Uvalde, Texas.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau advised reporters the new measures have been wanted as gun violence was growing.

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"We need only look south of the border to know that if we don't take action firmly and quickly it will get worse and worse and gets tougher to counter," he stated.

The handgun freeze would contain exceptions, together with for elite sport shooters, Olympic athletes and safety guards. Canadians who already own handguns could be allowed to keep them.

Authorities do not anticipate a run on handguns in anticipation of the freeze, in part as a result of they are so heavily regulated already, an official said in a briefing.

Canada has stronger gun legislation than america but whereas its gun murder rate is less than one-fifth the U.S. rate it is greater than that of different wealthy international locations and has been rising. In 2020 it was 5 instances Australia's charge.

The speed in each of 2020 and 2017 was the nation's highest since no less than 1997, in accordance with Statistics Canada.

Canada banned the sale and use of some 1,500 models of assault weapons, like the AR-15 rifle, two years ago within the wake of a mass taking pictures in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a move some firearms owners say they are contesting in court docket. Talking alongside Trudeau, Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the initial part" of a program to buy back and compensate homeowners of such weapons.

Whereas the Liberals have a minority of seats in Parliament, the laws may move with the assist of the left-leaning New Democratic Occasion.

The deliberate legislation would stop anyone topic to a safety order or who has engaged in domestic violence or stalking from acquiring or retaining a firearms license.

It can additionally require long-gun magazines to be completely altered to allow them to by no means hold greater than five rounds and can ban the sale and switch of large-capacity magazines.

The new laws would also ban some toys that seem like actual weapons, corresponding to airsoft rifles. Last week Toronto police shot and killed a man carrying a pellet gun. read more

"As a result of they look the same as real firearms, police need to treat them as if they're actual. This has led to tragic penalties," Justice Minister David Lametti instructed reporters.

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, welcomed among the strikes, such as the "red flag" provisions in the case of domestic violence, and stated he would like extra information on enforcement and sources for measures such because the handgun freeze.

He fully supported a crackdown on pretend weapons, which he mentioned have been a "huge challenge."

"You cannot distinguish between what's a replica firearm and what's a real firearm, significantly when these incidences involving reproduction firearms happen often in very dynamic, shortly evolving circumstances."

Rod Giltaca, the head of the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights, stated the handgun freeze was "absurd."

He stated authorities were not using the instruments they already needed to sort out gun violence, corresponding to calling people listed as references on gun license functions.

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Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa and Anna Mehler Paperny in Toronto, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Richard Pullin

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